How To Get The Best Haircut For Your Face Shape

Actor Daniel Craig elongates his round-shaped head with short hair on the sides and temples. Reuters/Andrew Winning

Forget everything you think you know about face shapes and haircuts — it's probably all wrong.

All that nonsense about heart-shaped heads or oblong-shaped heads? For the most part, it just doesn't apply to the short, tapered, long-on-the-top haircuts popular with today's gentlemen.

According to barber Kyle Holbrook of Fellow Barber in San Francisco, you need to know only one thing about your face shape to get the most flattering haircut — whether your head is wider or longer.

In other words, is your face rounder than it is long, or longer than it is round?

It's really that simple.

A rounder, wider face should get a haircut that is tighter on the sides. This will give the whole face more length and balance out your proportions, thus giving you the illusion of having a less-round face.

For those with a longer, squarer face, ask for a longer length of hair on the sides and around the temples. This will frame your face and make it appear wider.

Actor Ryan Gosling makes his long face appear wider with longer hair on the sides. Getty

These two subtle shifts can make a world of difference on how your new haircut will look on you.

Of course, a good barber will do this automatically, but Holbrook warns that you should always take charge of your hair. Your proportions will thank you.